Review: Marie Catrib’s of Grand Rapids

As some of you may know, I was in Michigan a couple of months ago visiting family, celebrating my grandmother’s birthday (center in the above photo) and searching for any vegan food that I could find. Well, there has been a sad turn of events in the past couple of days, that being that my grandmother has passed and I am now on my way to Michigan via sketchy Delta plane (as we speak) for her funeral. My close friends and family have been so great, and things are going as smoothly as they can be. I have a week of Polish recipe tributes that I am going to be doing in a couple of weeks, and I can’t wait.

So, besides the sad introduction (sorry!), the topic of Michigan leads me into this review of Marie Catrib’s restaurant that I visited during my last trip. Usually, when I go to Michigan, my family and I fly into Detroit and then drive up north to Luther, MI. which is near Cadillac. Sometimes we’ll stop at thrift or grocery stores along the way, but when I found Marie’s restaurant on my Happy Cow App, I knew that I needed to go there. If you take a look at the menu, you’ll see options for vegans and omnivores alike; which meant it would be the perfect place for my parents and I to go.

We arrived there in time for a late lunch at around 2:00pm, and it was PACKED! The restaurant is a good size, and a third of it is a deli/small market full of delicious-looking goodies; but, it was completely filled with hungry folks looking for some good food to eat. It was a good 20 minutes until we were able to sit down, but it wasn’t too bad. My mom and I spent our time gazing into their deli cases with our mouths watering over desserts, black bean salads, beautiful loaves of fresh-baked bread and various vegan entrees; planning on what we would end up taking home with us.

They had their menu written on a large chalkboard in the deli, so we were able to prepare before sitting down. I ended up order some hot tea to warm my bones, and it came with the cutest tea pot and plate of lots of teas. Just look at the layout, I would order it even if I didn’t like tea!

They had a vegan soup of the day, which sounded delicious; a combination of tomato soup (a personal favorite) with quinoa and spinach, which was delicious. For my main course I ordered the Larry David Sandwich, just listen to how good this sounds:

Lentils, wild rice, tomato, onion and spices make up this very special vegan burger patty. Served with spicy tomato jam, grilled onion, spinach, tomato and garlic veganaise on your choice of grilled bread.

Most of their bread is vegan, so it makes it really easy to order, and everything is labeled clearly if it is vegan.

Overall, the food and service was great. The portions were good for the size and the price, and my parents liked their dishes as well. We ended up taking a few things home with us including a delicious curry vegetable pie, and this incredible vegan, peanut butter chocolate cupcake with a surprise banana filling. Doesn’t it look amazing?

We talked with Marie, herself, and she was as nice as could be and very privy to vegan food culture. It was great to see a restaurant like this in Grand Rapids and I can’t wait to go back there once I’m in the area. I highly recommend that you try it out!

I am from Southern Michigan and I make the hike to Grand Rapids specifically for Marie Catrib’s, each time I go to visit my friends there it is a must-do on our list. If you go there for breakfast (when the line is out the door), sweet Marie walks around with fresh pastries (usually Cinnamon rolls) and offers coffee to everyone! I am glad you got to go there!

When I left Grand Rapids after 40 years to return to Washington state, I found that the things I missed desperately and most were Fred Meijer’s stores, Meijer Gardens, and Marie Catrib’s restaurant! Fred and Marie, you done good!

Vegan Yack Attack!

Welcome to this vegan food blog, run by Jackie Sobon, which covers everything from indulgent desserts, to healthy dinners, and even raw recipes! I also write up restaurant reviews and am sort of a beer snob. You'll find that there is something for everyone, here!

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